Hollow Bones
by feathersandbraids
Summary: What happens when the person you love is taken away and you have to try and rebuild this life you call your own? Draco never wanted to find out. They had seen enough pain and death to last them an eternity and yet here they were again. Broken.
1. Chapter 1

**March 1998**

"Granger, Let's go!" He yelled, grasping desperately for her wrist. She let out an inhuman that he wasn't sure if she was laughing or scared. Draco's fingers found skin, in the darkness, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he yanked her to him. Spells and curses flew past them, miraculously missing, as he tried to get her to run. Hermione stumbled to put one foot in front of the other. "We need to move." He hissed.

"We can't just leave them, they-" She bit her bottom lip and threw a wayward glance behind them. He gave her a rough jolt as he yanked her along, ignoring her protests. Death Eaters were closing in slowly. Ron and Harry were nowhere to be seen. Draco knew he had to get them out of the manor. They could apparate, no. That would have been too easy. They had to get beyond the wards protecting the house before they could do anything. Their feet hit the ground, in a rhythmic pattern that would lead one to believe they planned it.

"Oh, Draco!" Bellatrix Lestrange's voice, sweetened Draco's ears and made him cringe. A killing curse flew past his head, close enough that it ruffled his hair. His fingers tightened painfully around Hermione's wrist and she winced. "My dear, nephew, I suggest you stop running." The black haired woman landed in front of them, Draco stopped dead. Hermione bumped into him, momentum still propelling her forward. Bellatrix raised her wand at the two, grinning devilishly.

"Avada Ked-!"

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione regained her composure, wand drawn, counteracting the other witch. "STUPEFY!"

The spell was waved away by Bellatrix, who laughed and threw a stunning spell at the girl, who blocked it just as easily.

"Well Draco, I'd never have thought you to pick a Mudblood over your family." Bellatrix cooed. Draco's eyes narrowed at her.

"_Well, _Auntie, " He mimicked her tone. "You taught me to always take what I want." The woman made a disgusted face, and then smiled again.

"You're going to regret this," she said, "Turning your back on your family is never forgivable."  
>"I don't give a shit about you lot. What are you worth? A family that brainwashes its children, and teaches them hate? Seriously, I have no need for that bloody idealistic concept anymore." Hermione rotated her hand into his, and laced her fingers through his own, giving a light squeeze. "No, Auntie, fuck you. I'm fucking sick of this. "<br>"We do what we have to, Draco." Bellatrix snapped "Avada Kedavra!" The jet of grew flew past them, and made contact with its mark. Ron had come out of nowhere, absent of Harry. And now he fell to the ground, lifeless. Hermione screamed, gripping her companion, who instantaneously wrapped himself around her to prevent her from running to the boy.

"Let me go, Malfoy! Let go." She struggled as Bellatrix laughed. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" Hermione's wand flicked, green light finding home in the square of Bellatrix's chest. The smile hadn't made its way off of her face before she hit the ground. Hermione let out another scream, pushing at Draco, so she could make it to Ron.

"WE HAVE TO GO HERMIONE!" Draco yelled. He could make out the other death eaters coming towards them, and he began to panic. He shook his head in disbelief, frightened of everything around them.

"We have to go." He murmured to her. "Let's go." It was only then that he noticed that they were several yards outside of the wards. Swearing to himself, and holding Hermione tighter as she sobbed, he apparated them away, back to the Order and back to someplace they were safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**June 2004**

**Saturday, 8:00 A.M.**

The sun shone through the slight crack of the curtains, invading Draco's eyes and he gave a weary sigh, turning onto his side and trying to bury his face in the pillow. It wasn't long before he heard the pitter patter of feet, and his door creak open. He tightened his eye lids trying to pretend very hard that he was still asleep and that she might give in and go back to her room for once.

But he knew that wasn't how it worked and a small voice reached out to him.

"Daddy. " It whispered. "Daaa-dddy." He resisted smirking, not giving desperate to be the last one to 'wake up'. There was silence in the room and a touch of a small hand to his forehead ruffling his hair, before the voice tried again. "Daddy. Dad. DADDY!"

"We're sleeping still, Viv!" Hermione's voice rang out, with a small laugh. Draco laughed as well, peaking out one eye. Standing in front of him was a small child with a tuffet of dirty blonde hair, and a scowl that could challenge his any day, holding a stuffed dragon by the leg in one hand as it struggled to get away.

"I'm hungry." was all she said.

"Me, too." Draco replied. "I'd like an omelet, maybe some tea and pumpkin juice. I'm sure Mummy would like some kippers…," Hermione made a noise of disgust, "…porridge and maybe some orange juice." The child look at him apprehensively. "Well what are you waiting for? Hop to it and start making breakfast, darling. We're starving, Vivienne."

She stomped a foot and let out a whine. "Daddy!"

Draco chortled, and swung his feet out of bed. As soon as he was standing, Hermione dragged the covers over herself and buried herself under them, chuckling at being able to stay in bed a bit longer. Vivienne took her father's hand and led him down the hallway to the kitchen where the house elves had already laid out breakfast, and sat herself at the table. Draco yawned and joined her, pouring them each a cup of tea.

"Do you think we could go to Uncle Fred's shop today?" Vivienne asked, mouth full of eggs. Draco glanced at her from over the top of the Daily Prophet.

"Possibly. What do I get out of it? Maybe a dragon that shouldn't be on the table, perhaps?" He reached for the dragon that was prancing around, before Vivienne snatched it off the table and onto her lap.

"Dad."

"Viv."

"Daddy!"

Draco laughed again. "Unfortunately dear, I don't make the decision when it comes to your uncles, that's up to Mummy. " She sighed and slumped in her chair, poking at the food on her plate. Draco leaned in, "But I'll tell you a secret, I have some work to do in Diagon Alley and maybe, if you ask Mum very nicely, you both can come along and after we'll get lunch at The Leaky Cauldron."

"What are we asking me?" Hermione appeared in the doorway, wrapped in a robe.

"Daddy said we could go to Diagon Alley, if you said we could, because he has to work and then we'll get lunch at the Leaky Cauldron and have loads of fun." Hermione laughed at the speed of which this was all said, and then backtracked, eyeing Draco suspiciously.

"I thought you said you didn't have to work."

"I said I thought I wasn't going to have to, but you know how the Ministry is. I have to go to the Emporium to try and sort out some bloody illegal transportation of a whatsit." He waved his hand.

"Get Lee Jordan to do it. We've barely seen you these last couple of weeks."

"I have a job to do." Draco glared at Hermione.

"You also have a family, who would possibly like to see you more than twice a year."

"You can see me now!"

"That's not what I mean, Draco, and you know it." Hermione snapped.

"Then what to you bloody well mean then!"

"I _mean_ that all you do is work, work, work. Forgive me for thinking that perhaps you'd want to see your daughter sometimes. All you care about is that stupid office on the fourth level with your name attached to the door and a bloody secretary."

"Oh, yes, exactly. That's exactly right! You obviously know me so well, my love. I don't understand why you are making this into an argument." Draco said coolly. Vivienne sank deep into her chair, as if trying to disappear from the room.

"You are unbelievable. Really and truly unbelievable and thick. I tell you this all the time. That work has become too much of a priority and you need to spend time here. At home."

"Why should I spend any time here, when you don't? Always at Potter's house, doing whatever it is you two do. I swear, even on the nights I get home at a decent hour, you're never here!"

"Because you're always at the Ministry!" Hermione yelled.

"Well, excuse me for trying to provide for this family." Draco retorted. She let out an exasperated yell and stormed out of the kitchen. Draco closed his eyes and then opened them again, looking at Vivienne, who was playing with her fork. He sighed and patted her on the head, apologetically. They sat quietly, Vivienne telling him stories from the days she was spending with Mrs. Weasley, most of the time incidents of baking that had gone wrong, and toys that were long since old and broken but still well loved. Finally Draco gave her a smile and rose from the table.

"I'll be right back, okay, love? And then we'll go to Diagon Alley whether or not Mum wants to go." He headed down the hall to their room. He could hear Hermione crying, and he cracked the door.

"Hermione." He started. She sat with her back to him, sniffling while struggling to put on a sock.

"What?" She asked.

"I'm going to take Viv with me. If you want to meet us down there, that would be nice."

"Whatever, Draco." Draco's jaw clenched.

"I'm trying to be the bigger person here."

"Great." She responded, still not looking at him. "I'm going to go to Harry's for awhile."

Draco sat on the opposite side of the bed, suddenly feeling like he had lost the battle.

"Okay," was all he could manage. The bed creaked as she stood up, adjusting her skirt. There was a deep rooted silence, something that had devoured the room long ago.

"I'm going to say good-bye to Vivienne. " Hermione reached for the handle of the door, as her fingers wrapped around it, there was a moment of hesitation.

"Are you still sleeping with him, then?" Draco asked, quietly. Hermione turned her head and looked at him curiously, before pulling the door open and leaving him alone.


	3. Chapter 3

**June 2004**

**Saturday, 11 A.M.**

He didn't want to admit that it was difficult traveling with a child. But Vivienne was fidgety and didn't want to hold his hand. He couldn't blame her. At four years old, regardless of the overwhelming fact that magic is normalcy in your life, it was still exciting and new and curiosity almost always got the best of you.

Just before her fourth birthday, Draco had left his wand on the countertop, which found it's way into Vivienne's tiny hands. There was a screech of fear, and as he ran to the sitting room, he thought of all the awful things that could have happened. He felt blessed to know that she had just set the couch on fire, and it wasn't anything more serious.

The Leaky Cauldron was brightly lit as they stepped out of the fireplace. He was running late and felt badly that he had to drag her to a meeting. He hurried into the alley, trying to make up for the time lost. Her maryjanes clicked on the cobblestone as she tried to keep up.

"Daddy, you're walking too fast." She whined, trying to pull her hand away.

He slowed his pace slightly, glancing down at her and tightening his grip.

"I need you to stay with me, ok? And then we'll go to lunch." He lulled. She seemed content with this option and no longer tried to escape his grasp.

The door to the Emporium tolled it opened, alerting their presence to the owner, who glanced at his watch and raised an eyebrow.

"Forgive me." Draco apologized, "My wife had an emergency and so I've brought along my daughter. You know how it is having children, things come up that are often unavoidable." He narrowed his eyes as if daring the owner to question him, but the man merely shrugged.

"Shall we?" He motioned to a chair, and the two got down to business, trying to settle the reports of illegal transportation. It took them roughly a half hour to decide that there wasn't enough paper work and Draco would have to come back. This was just long enough for Vivienne to get restless of looking at owls. She tried to stand quietly in the corner and finally resolved to sighing every few seconds. Draco shot her a look that threatened their later plans. She made a zipping motion across her lips and wrapped her hands around her back.

Finally, Draco stood and she happily pranced over to him, grabbing his hand.

"I'm glad we could come to an understanding. " He said.

"I am as well. We'll see you in approximately an hour and a half, Mr. Malfoy." The man shook his hand and bid them goodbye.

Draco's foot barely touched the ground when he noticed Hermione nearby. She smiled at him, waving slightly, holding a bag in the other hand.

"MUMMY!" Vivienne yanked her hand away and ran over to her mother, who happily scooped her up, kissing her cheek. "I thought you didn't want to come, Mummy?"

"Oh, my lovely girl, why on earth would you think I'd pass up spending time with you?" She tapped the young girl on the nose, smiling again. She smiled at Draco, before leaning in to kiss him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. Her eyes flashed.

"You invited me." She responded.

"Oh. I didn't mean anything by it, I just…" He trailed off. "I'm glad you could come, love." She cocked her head to the side studying him, before turning her attention back to Vivienne. They spent a quiet lunch, hidden in a back corner of the Leaky Cauldron. Tom, the barman, as always was enchanted with the small family, stopping by to share stories and reminisce about their childhood. Hermione eased into it, laughing at the right moments and adding her own little tidbits. Draco tried to tune it out as much as possible. He could count on one hand the amount of times he spent in The Leaky Cauldron growing up. It wasn't until after the war that he started following Hermione there.

Hermione stared at him.

"Do you want to go to the Weasley's shop with us?" She asked, playing with her fork. He focused on it, watching her hands twist and turn around the metal. "Well?"

He looked up at her. "Uh…well. I don't know."

The Weasley's tolerated him at most. They never explicitly said they didn't like him (At least not to his face), but there was a typical disdain for him that was only softened by the fact that he had produced a child with someone they loved and cared deeply about. That, in itself, was a small miracle. Hermione produced a hurt smile and then nodded.

"Okay. Well I told them I would meet them at two-thirty. Do you have anything to do?"

"I actually have to go back to the Emporium and finish up some paper work. It shouldn't take too long. I'll meet you at the shop?"

Hermione pursed her lips. "Alright, an hour, though, no more, no less." Draco chuckled.

"I promise."

**June 2004**

**Saturday, 2:30 P.M.**

After bidding Draco goodbye, Hermione carried Vivienne a short walk down to the Weasley's shop. Hermione knew she could easily waste time, and it would keep Vivienne entertained. George pulled Hermione into a gracious hug and made a lolly appear out of thin air for Vivienne, who squealed in delight.

"Not too many." Hermione scolded George, "If Draco finds out I've been feeding her sweets he'll kill me."

The adults took up to talking, leaving the small child to play around the store. Ginny had brought James to be watched by Ron before leaving to do errands, and Vivienne took to playing with the baby.

"..Just stressed with work, and he's been a right bastard to me. I don't know what to do with him." Vivienne tapped Hermione's leg impatiently, who then waved her away.

"Mummy."

"…If I wasn't sure he thinks he's going to get fired, then I'd probably blow up-"

"Mummy…Mummy. MUM. Can I go see the pygmy puffs up front?"

"What, love?" Hermione looked down at her. "Yes, just stay where I can see you."

Vivienne made her way to the front, where the small creatures were. She pet one while quietly cooing to it, naming each of them by what color they were. A hand bigger than her own reached in to pet one, and startled, she looked up. A man smiled down at her.

"Well hello there, pet." He said quietly, getting down to her level. "Where's your mum?"

Vivienne looked back at Hermione, and then back at the man.

"Right there." She pointed to Hermione who had turned her back looking over the counter at something George was showing her, while Fred laughed.

" Ah, I know your mum. I'm a friend of hers." He smiled again.

"I've never seen you before."

"We're mates from when she was in school. Isn't that neat?"

Vivienne crossed her feet and bit her lip, nodding.

"You know, I have a box of nifflers right outside. Would you like to see them?" When she didn't respond, he looked at the adults in the back before refocusing on the child in front of him. "It's alright we're just going outside the door. I'd really like for you to see them." He held out his hand to her. He didn't seem mean like the people her father had warned her about. This man seemed nice.

"Okay." She said, taking his hand and following him outside. He led her down towards the Ice Cream Parlor. "Where are they?"

"Just a little bit further up here." He replied pulling her along.  
>"Vivienne!" Hermione's voice rang out. "Vivienne!"<p>

Vivienne tried to pull her hand away from the man, whose grip tightened.

"They're just right up here, darling." He said.

"I want to go back." She whined, digging her heels into the ground. "Please let me go back."

The man ignored her as he continued to pull her through the crowd. The more she struggled the tighter his grip became.

"Let me go!" Vivienne could here Hermione yelling for her, the shouts getting more frantic, and soon joined by Fred and George. "Let me go now!" He yanked her hard and she began to cry. "I want my mum. Take me to my mummy please." As they past the Emporium, she could see the white-blonde hair that only her father had.

* * *

><p>"Daddy!" She cried out. "Daddy!" There was crack as the man disapparated and everything was quiet.<p>

Draco froze at the front counter of the store, lost mid thought talking about proper treatment of animals.

"Sir?" the store keep asked, looking concerned. "Mister Malfoy?"

Draco looked back at him, confused.

"Sorry," He responded. " I thought I heard my daughter for a moment. I must have imagined it. You get tuned hearing for any child, thinking they're your own." He chuckled and then continued his conversation.

* * *

><p><strong>June 2004<strong>

**Saturday, 3:00 P.M. **

**Missing: Thirty Minutes**

Hermione sat on the front stoop of the joke shop, her face buried in her hands.

"Where could she have gone?" She moaned. "She was right up front. I looked away for two seconds."

Fred wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in for a tight hug. "We'll find her. " He said. "George contacted the Aurors, they'll be here any moment." As if on cue there was two loud cracks as a pair of men appeared in front of them. Hermione got up quickly rubbing the tears out of her eyes.

"Are you Mrs. Malfoy?" One of the men asked. Hermione nodded. "I'm Binks and this is Mr. Howard. The Floo that was sent to us said your child has gone missing?"

"Yes. She's 4, she'll be 5 next week." Hermione wringed her hands.

" Would it be okay if we went inside? Have a sit down and we'll ask you a few questions."

"Yes…yeah." Hermione led them inside to the back office, where George gave her a sympathetic look before scurrying out. Binks sat across from her, while Howard stood almost menacingly. Fred stood awkwardly in the doorway as if guarding the room.

"Can you tell me about her? What she looks like, any identifying marks?" Binks asked.

"Her name is Vivienne Narcissa Malfoy. She's about…um," Hermione raised her hand up trying to measure, "probably just about 4 feet tall, she has very light brown hair, almost blonde but not quite. It's very curly. She has big grey eyes. She doesn't have any freckles, blemishes, nothing like that, very fair skin." The man's quill rushed over the parchment he was holding.

"Does she wander off ever? Sometimes children get curious and –"

"No," She interrupted. "She's only ever done it once when she was 3 and her father had a conniption and doesn't let her leave his sight anymore."

"What about when she's with you?"

"I keep a good eye on my child." The man hummed in response. "I…She stays with us. She's frightened of being away from us. She gets worried being on the opposite side of the house, she's not the type to wander off and lose herself."

"What about other people? Has she ever left with anyone she doesn't know?"

"No, never. There's only a handful of people she would go with, and we've warned her about strangers. Always telling her what will happen if she goes off with someone that we don't know."

"It's true." Fred chimed in, "Even with me she's reluctant and I've known her since birth." Binks stared at him blankly before returning his attention to Hermione.

"What about…It says here you're married? Is it possibly your husband came and collected her?"

Hermione shook her head fiercely, "No, he's doing business down the way. He would have come to find me if he was going to take her anywhere."

"Have you had any arguments lately? Fighting perhaps more often than usual? Occasionally, disgruntled spouses will take a child without the other knowing, particularly if there's tension."

"No. Absolutely not. " She felt slightly guilty. The answer left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Is there anyone who might have-?"  
>"No!" Hermione snapped. "I..I need to find my husband. He doesn't know she's gone."<p>

"We'll get him. We need you to stay here right now." Binks said, surveying her.

"He's going to be furious with me. I can't believe this is happening." And with that Hermione broke down again.

"Hermione?" a voice called. She sat up, looking towards the door. She could hear George talking softly, before Draco's voice joined in. "Where is she! Hermione!" It sounded as though there was a tussle within the store, someone swearing, and then a bang. Hermione jumped up and ran toward the sound, just as a struggling Draco appeared in the doorway, trying to brush George's grip off of him.

" Hermione, what is…" he paused, licking his bottom lip and took in the room and the people within it. "Where's Vivienne?" He snapped at her.

Hermione shook her head, and opened her mouth but no sound came out and shook her head again.

"Where is Vivienne?" He asked again, more forcefully.

"I don't know." Hermione's eyebrows furrowed and she began to cry again.


	4. Chapter 4

"What do you mean you don't know!" His voice gained an octave, and his fist clenched.

"I was talking to Fred and George, and I leaned over the counter to see something and when I turned back around she was gone." Hermione sobbed.

Draco stared at her, licking his lips again, trying to figure out what to say. "She was just gone?" He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "She was just _gone? _ How does a four year old just bloody disappear Hermione?"

"Draco, I'm sorry. It was two seconds! She plays in the store all the time and-"

"And that means you don't need to watch her?" He screamed, stepping close to her, their noses almost touching. Hermione flinched at the proximity as if he had hit her.

"Mate, you're out of line. " Fred stepped forward and put his hand on Draco's chest, and pushed him back. Draco shoved him return,

"Don't tell me I'm fucking out of line Weasley, my daughter is-"

"Excuse me; I'm assuming you're Mr. Malfoy?" Binks interrupted. Draco blinked.

"Who the fuck are you?" He spat.

"I'm Binks," He motioned to the other man, "and this is Mr. Howard. We're pursuing your daughter's case."

"Oh, great!" The sarcasm was heavy on his tongue. "What the fuck is this Hermione? Call the Aurors and hope they sort it out before I find out?"

"No, Draco! I panicked, she was gone, and I couldn't find her, and we… we looked everywhere and we contacted the ministry." She said, crossing her arms.

"You should have contacted me first!"

"I wasn't thinking."

"Damn right, you weren't thinking." He set his jaw, the muscle flexing as he resist the urge to hit her. Binks took the opportunity to jump back into the conversation.

"Mr. Malfoy, where were you prior to arriving here?"

"At the Emporium, threatening the owner with prison time for illegally transporting magical animals."

"Is there anyone you know who Vivienne may have gone off with?"

"No. There is no one besides my dimwitted wife's friends. And I can promise you Saint Potter wouldn't kidnap a child, not when so many families would be more than happy to hand their children over to him."

"Potter, as in Harry Potter?"

"Are you dumb? Do you not know who she is? Who he-" He motioned at Fred." Is? Of course Harry fucking Potter. That's irrelevant anyway."

"Not exactly true, sir. There's the possibility of someone taking Vivienne due to the close contact you have Mr. Potter, since he has no children of his own-"

"He has a baby." Hermione interrupted. "A baby who is here today. If anyone was going to take a child to get something out of him, they'd take his own child. Not mine."

Binks sighed. "Well, is there anyone who may have wanted to get anything out of you? Any enemies, people unhappy with you, feel like you wronged them in some way?"

"No, we have none. We're just-" Hermione began, searching her head for people.

Draco closed his eyes as if she was taking up all his patience. He could easily list a dozen people who would want to exact revenge or extort money out of him. The attitude that all was well in their world that Hermione had taken on, was frustrating to him.

"Yes, there are people." He blurted out. Hermione eyed him, looking confused. "I have a huge fortune to my name, and I'm a former Death Eater. There are probably hundreds of people who would do anything to get at me. To get at my family. I married you because you were intelligent Hermione. Not so you could bloody pretend all's well in the world."

Binks noted it down pursing his lips.

"I will be completely honest with you," He started "The longer time goes by, the smaller the chance that we get your daughter back. However, since your wife contacted us right off, we have a good window of time to start searching. I'm confident we will find her, unharmed, and return her to you."

Hermione brightened at this prospect, but Draco remained scowling, clearly not having faith in the man who stood in front of them. She lightly wrapped her fingers around his and gave a small squeeze. He jerked his hand away as discreetly as possible.

"We'll be off." Binks said, "we'll be in touch as soon as we know anything."

George closed the shop door after the two men and then evaluated those in front of him. Draco stood away from Hermione and she had gone back to wringing her hands. Fred leaned against the counter. "I think I'll send an owl to Harry. Maybe if he can get on the case, it'll bring more people to it. Is that ok?" Hermione shrugged. Draco shot daggers at him.

"We need to go home." Draco whispered. Hermione hugged both the Weasleys thanking them for their help and followed Draco out into the alleyway. He looked around, as if trying to make the small girl appear, before holding out his hand. There was crack, and it felt as though they were being squeezed through a tube. They landed in front doorway, and Draco threw her hand away from him. She stood awkwardly, trying to formulate what to say. As soon as she opened her mouth, his eyes glared at her.

"Do not speak to me." He hissed. "I don't even want to be near you right now."

He left her standing in the hall, crying, as he stormed up the stairs. She heard the door furthest away open and close and knew he had gone to Vivienne's room.

And she left him alone.

**June 2004**

**Monday 8 A.M.**

**Missing: 43 hours**

Hermione had taken to staying in the guest room on the opposite side of the house, away from their room, away from him. He appeared in the entryway of the library and watched her. Didn't speak, just watched her read. Finally, she looked up at him. He looked as though he hadn't been sleeping, she imagined he hadn't since she was barely able. His hair was disheveled and looked as though it hadn't been combed in quite some time.

"Do you think they'll find her?" he asked, quietly. Hermione tilted her head to the side trying to decide if he was being genuine or if he was going to start yelling again.

"I want to believe they will." She answered.

"I can't fucking stand it. I need her home." His shoulders slumped. "I feel like my heart is going to explode." She crossed the room to him, and raised her hand to sweep the hair out of his face. She paused wondering how he'd react to her touch, but the extended her arm, pushing the hair back and then cupping his cheek. He pressed it her hand, as if telling her not to stop. Finally he reached out and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to him. She pressed her ear against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was strong and even, and she didn't want to move from that spot, she just wanted to stay in that moment. "What are we going to do, Hermione?" He murmured, voice thick.

There was a knock on the door. Loud and pounding, startling them apart. Hermione looked up at Draco, who returned her gaze, trying to decide what they were going to do. The knocking resumed after a few minutes.

"If we open it…" Hermione started, "I'm scared." Draco kissed her forehead, nodding in agreement. Finally, with a sigh, he pulled away from her, and headed for the door. He shot a look back at her, she was leaning against the doorframe, looking fragile and small and his heart gave an almighty lurch. She nodded again and he pulled the door open.

Standing in the rain, was Harry, looking worn out and somber. Draco moved aside so he could come inside. Harry shook his head, water falling to the floor. Hermione made her way down the hall, welcoming Harry with a hug. It made Draco's skin itch to see them touch.

"Well, any news?" He asked. Harry sighed, and gave a quick shake of his head.

"None. No leads, no suspects. Nothing."

"How is that possible?"

"It's…not. It's really strange. No one who was in Diagon Alley remembers seeing them. The only thing we had going for us was that you hear her screaming. And even that's not a lot. We're working on collecting memories from everyone so someone can go in and examine them thoroughly. Has anyone contacted you?"

"No one." Hermione whispered. "You don't think this is a ransom thing do you?"

Harry bit his lip for a second. "No. If it was, they would have contacted you straight off, but they didn't. This...I'm sorry. This was and is just a malicious attack on you. I don't know why, I have my theories, but…well, someone wanted to hurt one of you. This was the way to do it."

Draco swore under his breath and closed his eyes, trying desperately to control his temper.

"Do you...Potter, do you think we'll get her back?"

Harry studied his face, as if trying to pick the correct thing to say.

"I don't know." He settled. "I really hope so. I'm going to head back to the office and see if anything new has come up. I just wanted to give you both an update in person. It didn't feel right to owl you."

"Thank you." The two said simultaneously. Hermione hugged Harry again, and showed him to the door. Draco buried his face in his hands, swearing repeatedly.

"I can't do this." He said to her. "I can't…I can't be here." He grabbed his coat out of the closest and shrugged into it.

"Where are you going?" Hermione looked alarmed.

"Anywhere but here. I need to be able to fucking think."

He kissed her quickly before rushing out the door. There was a loud crack as his disapparated and left her alone again.

**June 2004**

**Wednesday, 1 P.M.**

The letter came in the afternoon. Hurriedly written in sloppy script, requesting ten thousand galleons for the return of Vivienne. Hermione let out an agonizing moan, clutching Draco's wrist to keep her steady.

"I thought the Aurors said it would have come right away." Draco mused. "Why now?"

"It doesn't matter. We'll give them the money." Hermione said. Draco searched her face, trying to gauge the seriousness of it.

"I'm going to contact Potter first and see what they say. But I agree with you."

Hermione could hear Draco arguing with Harry through the Floo network. She could hear the softness of Harry's voice while he explained that it was much better to wait. They had several leads, and he felt that whoever the person was, was just trying to extort money out of a family that was bleeding. Finally, Draco conceded, returning to Hermione in the library, sitting close to her. He sighed, and gently took her hand, squeezing it, with an empty reassurance.

**June 2004**

**Friday**

**Missing: 6 days**

The silence that had come to settle on their home became excruciating. There was constant waiting, for tips, for answers, for another contact. After the first ransom note and the restlessness that had encompassed the two, Draco had gone to Gringotts, and withdrew the money. The Aurors had told him that he shouldn't pay it, to let them do their job and they'd recover her. It wasn't good enough, nothing was good enough, they needed her back _now_. After many arguments, and compromises, the Aurors decided to go ahead with it. He was to drop the money in the muggle world, about 5 blocks from Diagon Alley. So he did.

And they waited, holding their breaths and hoping. The Aurors waited around the clock for someone to come retrieve the money, but they never expected the money to just disappear.

The second letter appeared by owl. It thanked them for the gracious amount of money and promised her return within 48 hours. They refused to breath, still holding their breaths for something, anything to go wrong. There was no contact, 48 hours came and went. And then 72, and 96. And then a knock came at the door.

**June 2004 **

**Tuesday, 1 A.M.**

**Missing: Ten Days**

It was raining again, the day Harry came to their home. Hermione ushered him in, offering tea, scones, anything. Harry merely shook his head. In the kitchen, he asked her sit and she refused. His fingers grasped the back of a chair roughly, knuckles turning white. Draco stood in the doorway that led to his study. He knew what this was, he knew that it was over.

"We found her." Harry said, "We found Vivienne."

"Where is she?" Hermione asked. Harry bit his lip, and took a deep breath. "Where is?" Hermione asked again. "Harry, where is my daughter? You take me to her right now. " Harry tilted his head to the side, his expression pained and simply shook his head, not trusting his voice to speak the words that he couldn't. "Harry Potter, where is Vivienne? Tell me. God damnit Harry, just tell me."

"She's…" He struggled to speak, "they found her too late. There was nothing anyone could do. I'm so sorry Hermione, we tried so hard to get her back."

"This isn't funny, Harry." She raised her hand, trying to stop his words from reaching her. "Please. Please stop lying. Please."

"We did everything."

"No, no, no, no, no." She was shoving him before she knew it. "No, you're lying. You're lying, Harry." And then she was screaming, and hitting him, trying to change his words, change his expression and the sad, pitying look that he was giving her. Harry wrapped his hands around her wrists, and pulled her in close to him, wrapping her up in his arms while she cried. Draco hadn't moved from his spot. He looked as though he was unsurprised. He turned on his heel, and slammed the door to study. The sound of books hitting the floor and what could have been lamps smashing drifted from underneath. He didn't reappear. Several hours past, Harry had made tea and he sat quietly with her, at the table. The continuous silence was only interrupted by bouts of her sobbing.

"When can we see her?" Hermione sniffled. "When can we bury her?"

Harry sighed. "Well… one of the mediwitches has to investigate cause of death. You have to identify her. By the end of the week at the latest."

"Identify her? What if it's not her? That's a possibility right? It's the wrong person, someone else's child."

"It's her, Hermione. I saw her." And with that, her tears erupted again.


	5. Chapter 5

**September 2004**

Draco's hands dragged over the shirt he was trying to fold. No matter how many times he ironed it, flattened it, cursed it, it refused to lay flat enough to fold nicely. He gritted his teeth in anger, swearing to himself. The house echoed, and he found himself wondering where Hermione was. Suddenly, it felt like the air was pressed out of his lungs, and he was drowning.

"Hermione?" He called. He walked to their bedroom, expecting to find her curled up in the same spot she was always. She didn't speak to him often, and he could barely get her to eat. The bed was empty, and cold and he began to panic. He hadn't checked in on her in hours, having become absorbed in some memo from work that was twenty pages long. "Hermione?"

He checked the sitting room, the library, the kitchen, but she was nowhere to be found. His feet tapped on the floor as he walked the doorway, leading to the room he hadn't checked. The door was cracked and he couldn't get his arms to move properly. With heavy anticipation, he pushed it open. He expected them both to be there, playing together. Giggling, and sharing 'secrets' with each other. He expected to find Hermione reading her a story, snuggled into bed together, maybe even sleeping. But neither was there. He took a step inside, and surveyed the room. A layer of dust had settled on the shelves, the very dragon he had scolded her for that morning left forgotten on the bed.

Tiny socks and shoes littered the floor. The bed was unmade and the curtains drawn on the windows. Teapots and cups were set on the table, guests sitting, waiting patiently for a tea party that would never happen. Draco's heart lodged itself in his throat. He withdrew his wand and gave it a wave. The shoes walked themselves back to the closet and the socks returned to the dirty clothes hamper. The dust cleared itself, and the bed corrected its blankets. He flicked the wand again, and the curtains opened, letting in sunlight. He picked up the small dragon which lit up at being touched after so long, and gave a hearty flap of the wings. He wanted to rip its head off.

"What are you doing?" a small voice came from behind him. Draco turned to Hermione who was standing in the doorway, watching him with wide eyes.

"I was just…" Draco shook his head, tongue tied, as though he was caught doing something wrong. "I was fixing the bed and picking up the shoes. I don't know."

He noted how heavy she was breathing.

"You've ruined it." She said, "You've ruined everything. You're just going to right everything, like she was never here?"  
>"Is that why you've kept the door bloody locked, so I wouldn't 'ruin' it?" He snapped. "There was dust everywhere. I didn't want anything to get ruined."<p>

She stared at him with empty eyes. "You are unbelievable. You don't even care. Why should it matter to you if it stays the same or not? It's not like you were ever home."

"Back to this, are we? Isn't this exactly the reason why we weren't together that day, because you have some weird jealousy of my job?"

"Don't even. No. You, Draco Malfoy, have always been selfish. You didn't care that you had a child at home; it was always work, work, work. Anything to keep you away from me? What do I remind you of, things you want to forget? So you have to avoid me?" She yelled.

"Fuck, Hermione, really? Maybe that's why you weren't ever home while I was! I know exactly what you were up to, from day one, " He stepped painfully close to her, his voice a low hiss. "Leaving Viv at Molly's and then finding your way into Potter's bed? Explain to me, love, what was it like fucking your best friend? And not even just your best friend, but your dead boyfriend's sister's husband? Or has Ginny always known and has just accepted that theres some creepy circle between you and Potter that no one is allowed into?"

"You don't know what you're on about. Don't bring them into this." Hermione put her hand on his chest, trying to push him out of her space. "Nothing's ever happened between me and Harry. Nothing. I don't know where you got that deluded idea but you're wrong, you always have been."

Draco's eyes flashed. His head went back in time, to a memory that started shortly after the war. They were inside Madam Rosemerta's, a party or something of the like. Hermione stuck to his side for the most part, a shield to the dirty looks he received. They were never officially dating, they were never officially anything until he suggested they get married. But this particular memory couldn't have been more than 6 months after the war, and it left a bad taste in his mouth. Around midnight, she disappeared, and an hour later when he found her, she was standing exceptionally close to Harry, whose arm was wrapped around her, hand resting on her hip, as they laughed with Neville and Luna over something. He remembered the look Ginny gave him, it was almost hopeless, and sad, and she gave a small shrug.

"Are you even listening to me?" Hermione's voice brought him back. "Nothing's ever happened between Harry and I, but I can't say I think the same of you and your stupid little secretary Astoria."

"Are you mad?" Draco snapped. "Are you absolutely mad? I'd never dream of touching another woman and for you to even suggest it, is bloody insulting."

"When was the last time you even spoke to me, Draco? All we've done in the last year is fight. And I'm starting to believe that maybe…" She looked exhausted suddenly.

"Spit it out."

"I can't even fight with you anymore. Even this anger filled thing that's going on right now, its not a fight, its just us nit-picking at each other. Trying to make the other feel bad. That's why I've spent so much time with Harry. I can't stand being in this house." She shrugged, "You think I like this, all the fighting and the jealousy and the fact that you open your mouth and I fucking want to hit you and I know you feel the same. I can see it in your eyes that whenever I even start to talk, you check out completely and go somewhere else in your head. You just repeat yourself over and over. And face it, Draco, you have no reason to be angry with me. I think you're angry with yourself for something and you always have been and I've never been able to fix it."

"I don't have any reason to be angry with you? You got our daughter killed."

She looked as though he had slapped her.

"Shove off, Draco. You've got no-"

"If you had just bloody kept an eye on her, we wouldn't be standing in the middle of her room arguing over petty shit. She wouldn't be gone and you wouldn't be freaked out that I cleaned up a bit."

"I did keep an eye on her, as well as anyone could! You really expect me to believe that you think anyone watches their children like a hawk someplace where they feel safe? That store was like a second home to us, we spent so much time there, there was no reason to suspect anything like this would ever happen."

"You'd think with all the running around you've done in your life, you'd have learned something. What was it that old quack Moody used to yell in class? Constant Vigilance! Dark Lord is gone for 2 years and you got naïve and stupid." Draco could feel his blood boiling. "You were never like that! Never. What changed? Who are you?"

"Who are you?" She yelled back, eyes swimming with tears. "Who do you think you are? I did the best I could. It's not as though I fucking sold her to someone, Draco. But what the hell, you might well think that already so who knows."

"You know what, Granger, I'm just going to pack my shit, and leave. There's no point to this anymore. I don't know why we're even going to try. Fuck it! Fuck this, and fuck you." Draco shoved past her.

"Good!" She screamed, "I'm glad because now I don't have to fucking deal with your melodramatic musings of how I'm an awful person. I've always been fucked up in some way to you. I ruin everything! I get people killed right, Draco? I get everyone I love killed. Say why, Draco? I know you still think it. I know that it's the one thing on the tip of your tongue that you're dying to say to me."

He froze, before continuing his pace down the hall, while she raged on following him to their bedroom.

"Run and cry to Mummy, Draco. Tell her the big, bad mudblood, has ruined things again. Another person died, and it's all my fault!"

He swung open the door to armoire, and behind him, she yanked him clothes out of the dresser, throwing them on the bed, pulling the drawers completely out. He tried to tune her out. Tried to keep her voice from piercing his thoughts, and the barrier that he had put up to keep her out.

"It's my fault." It was as if a dam broke. Her tears spilled over and ran down her face as she repeated over and over. "It's my fault, it's my fault. I'm sorry." She touched his arm and he tried to pull away from her. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please, Draco. Please don't leave. Don't leave me here." Her fingers wound themselves into the fabric of his shirt.

"Let go." He snapped. Her tears slowly softened him. He tried to pull her hand off, grabbing her wrist.

"Don't leave, don't leave. It's my fault, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She sank to the bed, sobbing, gasping for air. He stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, torn between wanting to leave, but unwilling to abandon her. "I love you. Please don't leave me, please." The simplicity of the three words hit him like a brick wall and he felt his own resolve break completely. He sat down next to her on the bed, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into him and sharing the sorrow with her.


End file.
